Umm Al-Lool denies the charges
Life sentence for Iraqi TikTok influencer on drug trafficking charges
BAGHDAD – The Rusafa Criminal Court in Baghdad sentenced Iraqi TikTok star and dancer Hadeel Khalid Abdul Rasheed, known as “Umm Al-Lool,” to life imprisonment for drug trafficking on Wednesday. This follows an earlier sentence in April, where Umm Al-Lool was sentenced to four months in prison by Baghdad’s Karkh Misdemeanor Court for creating and publishing photos and videos deemed “indecent content.”
After her initial sentencing, an arrest warrant was issued for her on drug trafficking charges. The Central Criminal Court subsequently handed down a life sentence based on these charges.
Miqdad Miri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, told 964media, “The sentence is based on charges of cooperating with drug dealers and transporting narcotics from Erbil to Baghdad.” Hussein Al-Tamimi, spokesperson for the General Directorate of Drug Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, later added that Umm Al-Lool’s arrest followed an in-depth investigation based on “precise intelligence” by the Directorate, which resulted in dismantling a drug trafficking network. “A specialized task force was formed, and she was legally arrested and referred to the competent court, which sentenced her to life imprisonment under Article (28) of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. (50) of 2017,” Al-Tamimi explained.
According to Iraqi journalist Qusay Shafiq, Umm Al-Lool’s lawyer claimed that she confessed under torture and threats during the initial investigation but later denied the charges in court. “I earn $4,000 a day in the nightclub. How could I transport drugs for one million Iraqi dinars ($763)? The least advertisement I do pays $1,000,” Umm Al-Lool stated. Her lawyer requested a postponement of the session, which the court denied. The lawyer also submitted documents, including Umm Al-Lool’s passport, showing she was in Dubai at the time of the alleged incident. 964media has not independently verified this narrative.
Umm Al-Lool’s sentencing occurs amidst a series of recent assassinations and deaths of social media influencers in Iraq. In February, Simsim, a transgender social media personality, was killed in Diwaniyah in southern Iraq. In late April, Umm Fahad, a social media influencer, was shot dead in front of her home in Baghdad. In mid-May, another transgender social media personality died under suspicious circumstances in prison, where she was held on prostitution charges.
Iraqi female TikTok star shot dead in Baghdad
